Gators Baseball - This and That

[Kgator27]

1) While things are developing in the season, is it just me, or does it seem a bit bizarre to throw Faedo 119 Friday, and Singer 109 in week 2? Uh, you need to develop a bullpen, and you need these horses strong in the stretch. Can't figure that one.

2) Perhaps I'm loopy, but I swear Byrne was hitting 90-92 last weekend with solid control. Same Tuesday. This weekend 84-87 and location struggled. 3 outings in 8 days and then the Sunday performance? I hope I am wrong, but that is concerning.

3) SEC East was a juggernaut in the preseason polls. Week 2 has Gamecocks at 5-3 and Vandy 4-3? Step it up boys. Missouri (7-1) and Tennessee (6-1) are eating your early breakfast.

 

[Countygator]

Sully has done a great job managing arms so I trust him. Does seem high for 2nd weekend. Every year more parity in baseball. Just look at Coastal last year. Even your normal cupcakes are tough outs these days.

 

[Dannygator1989]

My Yankees are going to be watchable for the first time in years.


Though I do appreciate the incredible pitching being put forth by this gator rotation

 

[ocalaman]

The fact that Coach O let Faedo & Singer throw so many pitches definitely is a departure from his past practice. But it doesn't concern me in the least. He's a great coach and knows his players. I agree that he's got to figure out the bullpen rotation and I'm sure it will work itself out over time. My main concern is the lack of hitting, especially from some of our key veterans. I know we're only 7 games in, but for guys like Schwarz, Rivera, Maldanado & India to start off so slow, we're fortunate the pitching has been so dominant. This team is loaded (again) and will be in the hunt for SEC and NCAA titles.

 

[Countygator]

I think the bats will come around

 

[46885]

it would actually be nice to see him let guys work through stuff more often on the mound this year...

 

[instaGATOR]

Hitting Percentages so far: (7 are above .250, 6 are below .232)

.429 Hicks - 6 H, 1 RBI
.429 Bell - 3 H, 3 RBI, 1 HR
.423 Guthrie - 11 H, 3 RBI
.333 Larson - 3 H, 2 RBI
.300 Langworthy - 6 H, 2 RBI, 1 HR
.300 Beese - 3 H, 0 RBI
.250 Liput - 7 H, 4 RBI, 1 HR
---------------
.231 Maldonado - 3 H, 1 RBI
.222 India - 6 H, 7 RBI, 2 HR <<<<<
.208 Schwartz - 5 H, 5 RBI <<<<<
.200 Rivera - 5 H, 3 RBI <<<<<
.111 Kolozsvary - 1 H, 2 RBI, 1 HR

Funky Notes:
Reese is batting .300, but has 0 RBI.
The guy with the best Bat/Ave (.429 Hicks) only has 1 RBI
The guy with the worst Bat/Ave (.111 Kolo) has 2 RBI's.

>> So, what's more important to winning a game, Bat/Ave or RBI's?
JMOHO, but .250 LIput and .222 India have been the most effective so far.
They have combined for 13 H's, 11 RBI, and 3 HR's.
==============

Gator pitching is very good now, and will get better across the season imo.
RHP Faedo Jr
LHP/OF Horvath Jr
RHP Lee Jr
RHP Byrne So
RHP Singer So
---- 10 Fr Pitchers ----
RHP Brown Fr
RHP Long Fr
RHP Weinberger Fr
RHP McKay Fr
LHP Maye Fr
-------
LHP/OF Baker Fr
RHP/OF Bodrato Fr
RHP/INF Dyson Fr
RHP/OF McMullen Fr
RHP/INF Michin Fr

This early in the season, pitch counts are virtually meaningless imo.

 

[46885]

Watching Jville and FSU now, Jville jumped out to a 3-0 lead through 3... FSU just hit a leadoff bomb to get it to 3-1 and now there's runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out he's gonna blow it already...

 

[ocalaman]

Hitting Percentages so far: (7 are above .250, 6 are below .232)

.429 Hicks - 6 H, 1 RBI
.429 Bell - 3 H, 3 RBI, 1 HR
.423 Guthrie - 11 H, 3 RBI
.333 Larson - 3 H, 2 RBI
.300 Langworthy - 6 H, 2 RBI, 1 HR
.300 Beese - 3 H, 0 RBI
.250 Liput - 7 H, 4 RBI, 1 HR
---------------
.231 Maldonado - 3 H, 1 RBI
.222 India - 6 H, 7 RBI, 2 HR <<<<<
.208 Schwartz - 5 H, 5 RBI <<<<<
.200 Rivera - 5 H, 3 RBI <<<<<
.111 Kolozsvary - 1 H, 2 RBI, 1 HR

Funky Notes:
Reese is batting .300, but has 0 RBI.
The guy with the best Bat/Ave (.429 Hicks) only has 1 RBI
The guy with the worst Bat/Ave (.111 Kolo) has 2 RBI's.

>> So, what's more important to winning a game, Bat/Ave or RBI's?
JMOHO, but .250 LIput and .222 India have been the most effective so far.
They have combined for 13 H's, 11 RBI, and 3 HR's.
==============

Gator pitching is very good now, and will get better across the season imo.
RHP Faedo Jr
LHP/OF Horvath Jr
RHP Lee Jr
RHP Byrne So
RHP Singer So
---- 10 Fr Pitchers ----
RHP Brown Fr
RHP Long Fr
RHP Weinberger Fr
RHP McKay Fr
LHP Maye Fr
-------
LHP/OF Baker Fr
RHP/OF Bodrato Fr
RHP/INF Dyson Fr
RHP/OF McMullen Fr
RHP/INF Michin Fr

This early in the season, pitch counts are virtually meaningless imo.

Insta - I have to take issue a little bit with your assertion that pitch counts early in the season are virtually meaningless. I happen to have personal experience in this area and know for a fact that the cumulative effect of overuse of repetitive motion (like pitching) can lead to rotator cuff damage and/or dead arm syndrome. It's not a matter of 1 game or 2 or 3. It's a season-long accumulation of the number of times the pitching motion is repeated. Each pitcher is different, as the arm and shoulder muscles and pitching motions are different with each pitcher. But with that said, Kevin O'Sullivan is able to recruit so many quality pitchers year after year because he is well known for taking care of his pitchers, saving their arms and getting them drafted. It was very unusual for him to let Singer & Faedo throw so many pitches as it goes against his normal patterns of the past. But he absolutely knows what he's doing and I would never question his decisions when it comes to how he uses his pitchers.

 

[46885]

well, i wouldn't worry about sully doing it often, he never has... he must have wanted to see what they could do shouldering the load... our guy going tonight already has 40 pitches through 2, so he won't last long, be lucky if he makes it officially through 5 to be up for the win if we score some runs soon... hit 2 hard balls right at the right fielder in the first, all 3 outs were to the same guy, ucf dodged a bullet in the first and we did in the first as well with the bases loaded and one out and got an infield fly out..


it's great to have this espn watch app on my ps4, the HD quality looks better than actually watching it on tv too, even though the games seem like they are delayed on there about a minute or so from the updates I see on twitter...

 

[46885]

we scored two runs in the 3rd but the starter is already out in the 4th with the pen already in...

2-0 bottom 4th now with 1 out

 

[MJWilliamson]

Blake Reese having a good night

 

[46885]

and of course right on cue as everyone does against FSU in all sports they become the un clutch teams they are when they aren't playing us, wild pitch that moves tying and winning run over... they are done now

 

[Kgator27]

Insta - I have to take issue a little bit with your assertion that pitch counts early in the season are virtually meaningless. I happen to have personal experience in this area and know for a fact that the cumulative effect of overuse of repetitive motion (like pitching) can lead to rotator cuff damage and/or dead arm syndrome. It's not a matter of 1 game or 2 or 3. It's a season-long accumulation of the number of times the pitching motion is repeated. Each pitcher is different, as the arm and shoulder muscles and pitching motions are different with each pitcher. But with that said, Kevin O'Sullivan is able to recruit so many quality pitchers year after year because he is well known for taking care of his pitchers, saving their arms and getting them drafted. It was very unusual for him to let Singer & Faedo throw so many pitches as it goes against his normal patterns of the past. But he absolutely knows what he's doing and I would never question his decisions when it comes to how he uses his pitchers.

I'm with you Ocalaman. To say pitch counts are meaningless doesn't make sense. Pros, college and heck, even HS coaches "ramp up" pitchers pitch counts as the season starts up, to build up their strength and endurance. Train for a marathon, you don't run 26.2 two-three weeks into the training, you train for months to build up your legs. Sully has never had a kid have Tommy John on his watch (check that stat boys and girls), so I would certainly trust his judgement on handling his pitchers, but as noted, that is a departure from his norm. Yes some guys have had arm problems, but they were all from HS and summer usage before they got to UF. (E.g. Carston Whitton sp?))

 

[bradleygator]

Insta - I have to take issue a little bit with your assertion that pitch counts early in the season are virtually meaningless. I happen to have personal experience in this area and know for a fact that the cumulative effect of overuse of repetitive motion (like pitching) can lead to rotator cuff damage and/or dead arm syndrome. It's not a matter of 1 game or 2 or 3. It's a season-long accumulation of the number of times the pitching motion is repeated. Each pitcher is different, as the arm and shoulder muscles and pitching motions are different with each pitcher. But with that said, Kevin O'Sullivan is able to recruit so many quality pitchers year after year because he is well known for taking care of his pitchers, saving their arms and getting them drafted. It was very unusual for him to let Singer & Faedo throw so many pitches as it goes against his normal patterns of the past. But he absolutely knows what he's doing and I would never question his decisions when it comes to how he uses his pitchers.

Agree completely with your point about Sully taking care of his pitchers. Given that, probably the best explanation for letting Singer and Faedo go so long is that he felt like he had to. He wanted to lock up a couple wins against a good out of conference team and doesn't trust his bullpen yet. Maybe he'll look for an opportunity down the road to get those pitches back for those guys.

Pitch counts and their relation to injury is an interesting discussion. You hear a lot of people noting the correlation between increased use of pitch counts and what seems to be an increased number of arm injuries and speculating that pitch counts are ineffective. But I agree with you that it's common sense that repetitive, stressful motions are going to cause more damage the more often they are repeated.

I think at least part of the reason for all the arm injuries, and it really feels like almost a given that just about every big time pitching prospect is going to have one, is the way pitchers now throw against a straightened out plant leg.

If you look at old videos of Nolan Ryan, or Dwight Gooden, they drive through the motion with their legs and land on a bent front leg. Their leg power takes some of the stress off their arm. Compare that to Singer's delivery, or Faedo, (all the young power pitchers pitch like this) who both pitch against dead straight legs. Singer's leg is almost bent backwards! The idea is that the arm cracks like a whip against the sudden stop, and it is considered the most efficient delivery for maximum mph, which is what gets you drafted and gets you to MLB, but I think you sacrifice longevity, because all of that velocity is coming from stress on the arm.

 

[ocalaman]

O'Sullivan's comments after last night's loss at UCF:
Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan Quotes…

“It was just one of those nights. We just didn’t play well in any phase. Michael [Byrne] just gave up some hits there, I think the home run by Marsh was the big one that put them up four. We just didn’t do anything well tonight. We didn’t pitch, the crazy thing is I thought [Tyler] Dyson came in and threw the ball well, and Cole Maye there at the end. We tried some different things defensively, put Mike [Rivera] over there at first. It didn’t quite work out tonight. We’re trying to find right-handed options in practice, and it’s better to find out now than later.

“The more glaring issue we have right now, obviously we’ve got to get going offensively, but the body language tonight was terrible. It was not good. We did not make good decisions on defense. We struggled, we put our heads down, there was no communication on the field – which is not us.

“Quite frankly, it was probably one of the worst games that we’ve played since we’ve been here. I will say this, it’s the best thing that could have happened to us at this point. It gives us a chance to reevaluate some guys, maybe catch some guys attention. We’ve got a couple guys, it’s their draft year, and they’re not handling it very well right now. They will, but right now this is probably the best thing that could happen to us at this point so we can catch their attention and get ready to play this weekend.”

The team batting average is down to .251 and the key guys in their draft years are Rivera (.179), Schwarz (.219), Liput (.242) (only a sophomore but draft eligible by age), and Guthrie (.333). Guthrie's hitting has been good, but has made 3 errors already, which is very unusual for him. India is only hitting .212, Maldanado .214 and freshman Langworthy, who got off to such a hot start, is down to .259. The leading hitters other than Guthrie have not been every game starters (Bell, Reese, Hicks, Larson), although they'll be getting more starts if the "regulars" don't pick it up. I've seen this before, where guys in their draft years put too much pressure on themselves and struggle. Once they relax and just enjoy the ride, they're too good to stay in this funk. And after all, we're still 7-2, and like coach said, maybe the thumping in Orlando will be a wake-up call.

 

[instaGATOR]

Insta - I have to take issue a little bit with your assertion that pitch counts early in the season are virtually meaningless. I happen to have personal experience in this area and know for a fact that the cumulative effect of overuse of repetitive motion (like pitching) can lead to rotator cuff damage and/or dead arm syndrome. It's not a matter of 1 game or 2 or 3. It's a season-long accumulation of the number of times the pitching motion is repeated. Each pitcher is different, as the arm and shoulder muscles and pitching motions are different with each pitcher. But with that said, Kevin O'Sullivan is able to recruit so many quality pitchers year after year because he is well known for taking care of his pitchers, saving their arms and getting them drafted. It was very unusual for him to let Singer & Faedo throw so many pitches as it goes against his normal patterns of the past. But he absolutely knows what he's doing and I would never question his decisions when it comes to how he uses his pitchers.

pitch counts early in the season (my point)

I happen to have personal experience
the cumulative effect of overuse of repetitive motion
It's a season-long accumulation (not relevant or pertaining to my point)

O'Sullivan is well known for taking care of his pitchers, (I agree)

But he absolutely knows what he's doing and I would never question his decisions when it comes to how he uses his pitchers. (but that's exactly what you did and are doing)

I don't know chit about sports, baseball in particular (I played 2B in my early years), so yawl have at it for me....

 

[Kgator27]

Here is an observation to follow: You have 30 guys on the roster and 12 of them are Freshman - plus David Lee a Juco transfer - so 13 newbies (43% of roster). With that, what kind of grades can we assign to members of the class, at this very early stage?

Langworthy - A
Keenan Bell - C
Dyson - C
Nate Brown - C
Baker C-/D

Can't really even stick a grade on anyone else. In a sport with 3 year players, the Freshman class has to have contributors. Will see how this plays out during the season. Coincidentally, the 2016 recruiting class had 1 man (Baker) ranked in the Top 100. By comparison the 2017 class inked in Nov. has 4 pitchers and 1 IF in the Top 50, 7 guys in the Top 100... before the draft takes its toll.